Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Morning Drill: July 19, 2012

A Temecula dentist accused of having sexual relations with two teenage girls apparently no longer has a state license to practice as a dentist.

A Sept. 19 trial in Riverside County Superior Court is set for David Martinus Reiakvam Jr., 44, who could face more than 50 years in prison if convicted of 13 counts of lewd acts on a child under 15 and two counts of oral copulation of a child under 18.

Reiakvam, who ran Reiakvam Family and Cosmetic Dentistry on Rancho California Road, is free on $200,000 bail.

According to the Dental Board of California, Reiakvam's dental license expired earlier this year and as of July 17 his license is delinquent.

The Dental Board, which operates under the state Department of Consumer Affairs, defines "delinquent" as, "Licensee has failed to timely renew the license or failed to meet all requirements for renewal."

The state Dental Practice Act requires dentists to be licensed. Reiakvam had held a dental license since November 1998, according to the state board's verification records system.

After his arrest in late 2010 the Dental Board sought a court order restricting his dentistry practice while the criminal process was under way. On January 3, 2011, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields issued an order banning Reiakvam from practicing dentistry work on minors "until the close of escrow of his dental practice."

Colorado-based oral surgeon Dr. Stephen Stein's alleged reuse of needles and syringes at two of his dental practices may have been discovered during an unrelated investigation into prescription fraud.

CBS Denver reports that a former employee of the oral surgeon may have blown the whistle on Stein before he lost his license, tipping state investigators to look into Stein's alleged decade-long practice of re-using needles and syringes.

The employee, who had previously contacted CBS Denver last spring, said Stein was ordering drugs under patients' names and she questioned the practice, telling the station she wanted to let the state know of her concerns. An investigation by the state's dental board led to an agreement in which Stein gave up his license to practice in June 2011. It was during this probe that the state discovered the alleged practice of reusing needles, according to the station.

Warrants were obtained and both women were charged with embezzlement greater than or equal to $100,000 and felony conspiracy, Routh said. Atkinson and Winch were each in the Brunswick County Detention Center under $20,000 bonds at the time of this post.